My point being that the DISCIPLINARY measures, an HC would have to implement, necessary to TRULY break the collective will of its very foundation, amongst the ring leaders of it, would NOT ever be TOLERATED by Ownership!
Said another way, the faith in the HC, and the length of time, and patience, and LATITUDE, Ownership would have to EXTEND to an HC, (assuming he was even CAPABLE of taking the actions necessary), WOULD NEVER be acceptable to Ownership, as a PROPER way to handle the problem!
Rush
Great point Rush.
I have been pondering this very thought about Reirden's limitations, whether he has a weakness or not, or is much being imposed on him by ownership. This has been one reason I have not trashed him so much.
The problem AND the solution lie in the player's hearts and minds. At this point in the season this is not a bad thing. All relies on the players themselves to decide IF they want to grab this very rare opportunity and take home another cup. I still believe this team more than any other is capable of bringing home the cup. There is more than enough experience in our players and especially the leaders to accomplish this. They know what it will take.
It is almost too late. They will need to find the mettle to bind them very soon. Win or lose today against Pittsburgh, if they can't fire on all cylinders and avoid stupid mistakes I will call it pretty much hopeless at that point. I think they know this. Today will bear great meaning for the remainder of the season.
(I will now begin to digress)
This is very reminiscent of 2018. It was the players that decided to bring home the cup. We slumped through February that year too. Then we went on a tear, but still had a very questionable Holtby with Grubauer holding down the fort. Holtby found his game after the playoffs began. The Capitals at that point were on a mission.
We are less than a handful of games separated from that successful season.
For some reason I was extremely calm and expectant of a cup win in 2018, even through the rough spots. This year I believe we have even more talent, though I miss Orpik and Niskanen for sure. Our defensive failing this year falls largely on the forwards, yet we've seen they are capable of extremely responsible two-way play. I am not now nearly as calm about our chances as I was that year
Someone else pointed out, I think it was Alta, that a new coach this late in the season is a non-starter for many reasons. I think Reirden has done a pretty good job as HC. There has been many a game where we were being handled by the opponents only to come out and tilt the ice back after an intermission. I believe Reirden played a large role there.
As many have pointed out, we have many larger than life players on our team, and with that headwind and the not so secret top down edicts setting an unchangeable mold of how we handle these players we must use our intelligence to fairly place the blame where most of us have realized it belonged for years ... on the players.
The one area I would blame equally on coaching and the players is the power play. We have seen how this team can thwart the best aggressive PK when they decide to drop the rigid PP structure and crash the net, fire everything at the net, and BE THERE for rebounds. I am inclined to believe the coaching is to blame for this failure.
With regards to excessive penalties I expect the players are now on their own to sort this out. Each player needs to be held accountable by the entire team for letting them down when they take a selfish penalty.
This year we've seen from the Capitals some of the most remarkable displays of confidence, skill, will, heart, and perseverance, leading to some of the most memorable comebacks and displays in NHL history. All they need is to find a few switches and we are capable of a legitimate shot at the cup.
I honestly don't know if Trotz had answers to these same problems. I'm inclined to think not. Even he said it ultimately came from the players.
Huge game today in Pittsburgh.
